Time Travel
by Lololova
Summary: Prompt: What if Castle had been sent into the future when he picked up Doyle's machine and jogged to give it back in 6x05 Time Will Tell. Requested by kweigl on twitter. Thanks Kim! Strong T-rating due to some choice of language.


_Strong T-rating due to some language._

 _Prompt: What if Castle had been sent into the future when he picked up Doyle's machine and jogged to give it back in 6x05 Time Will Tell. Requested by kweigl on twitter. Thanks Kim!_

* * *

"See you in twenty years." Doyle walked away quickly and Castle half-chuckled.

"Is it-is it just me, or does that make sense?" Castle glanced between his fiancé and their coworker.

Ryan just shook his head, not even really paying attention. "No, it's just you."

Castle still smiled and caught something within his eye, "Ooh, he forgot his little doohickey there." He quickly picked up the small machine and jogged after the man from the future. He was right behind him and smirked as he thought of meeting the man again in twenty years or so, wouldn't that had rocked Beckett's world and made her believe in time travel. Especially considering Doyle would not look a day older than he did the first time they met. He rounded the same corner Doyle just rounded, heard a beep and looked up from the small machine only to find... no one. He was gone. Castle looked around, _where'd he go?_ He couldn't possibly have gotten through the exit. _He was just right there a second ago!_ Castle had practically been walking on his heels! _Oh_. He started thinking, maybe Doyle had returned to the future. That's how he disappeared so fast. Frozen he debated if he should run towards the exit to make sure, just in case, that he really wasn't there or run back to his fiancé and tell her the man really was from the future. _Maybe I should just... drop it_. He was tired, the case had tired him, he was probably just imagining things. _Yeah_. He turned back towards his chair, where he would wait for Beckett to be done so they could go home. Getting back into the bullpen he froze again because... _where the hell was his chair? Where was Beckett?_

"Beckett?" he called out and when he didn't get a response or saw her he went towards the whiteboard, which was now filled with other information. Not their case, the closed case. "Ryan?" he called out instead but he didn't come either.

"Can I help you?" He startled at the woman's voice and turned around to see a blonde looking tired, putting down files on Beckett's desk before sitting down.

"Who are you? You can't sit at Beckett's desk," Castle started looking around, waiting to see his fiancé storm out and tell off the obvious rookie her desk was not for anyone.

"Who are _you_ and why are you here?" the blonde questioned back and he stared at her, confused.

After a minute of thinking he shook his head. "This is a prank. It's _not funny guys!_ " he called out but no one answered him. The blonde gave him a questioning look and _damn_ she was good. _Wonder where they found her._ He gave up, decided Beckett was probably waiting for him at the car, this was obviously a prank from the guys. Coming down to the garage he couldn't find her car, and that's when he was really starting to feel his heart pump harder, faster. _What the hell was going on?_ She would've waited for him, right? She had known he was coming back _and_ it's not like she should've been able to pack everything up that quick. _He hadn't been gone long! Three minutes, TOPS!_ Sighing he decided they must've planned this prank ever since he indulged in the idea of time traveling. He wiped his face with his hands and walked to the subway station. He couldn't stop the shivering from going down his spine, it felt as though something was wrong, terribly wrong, but he couldn't shake it. He didn't look around much while jumping onto the train, didn't look at the posters hanging on the walls. Deep in thought he wandered to the loft, greeted the doorman who wasn't his usual but shrugged it off as Eddie having a cold or something, and put his hands in his pocket in order to fish up the keys... the keys that weren't there, _the hell?_ Castle searched all his pockets, no keys.

"Stupid prank," he mumbled for himself and knocked on the door, waiting for Beckett to open up.

When the door flew open his eyes widened at the woman in front of him. She was somewhere around his own age and the red hair on her head had him feeling his heart stop. _Alexis?_

"DAD?!" the woman yelped with a shock matching his own. Before he could even tend to answer her she yelled out, "WHERE _THE HELL_ HAVE YOU BEEN?! And _how do you look so young?!_ "

Castle just stared at her in shock. The woman was indeed very much alike Alexis but she couldn't be. She just couldn't. It wasn't possible. _IT'S NOT REAL_.

"Mom?" a little boy's voice came from behind the woman and, _oh god,_ _she had kids?!_

"Alexis? Wha...?" Castle's mind raced.

"Grampa?" The small boy came into view and even though he stood behind the woman's, _Alexis'_ , leg Castle could easily see the red headed boy was an almost exact copy of his mom when she was his age.

He started wiping at his face. "I must be dreaming," he mumbled for himself.

"Dad? Is it really you?" Alexis' voice was a lot sweeter now, breaking, and when he looked up at her again he saw tears in her eyes.

"I-yeah," he nodded and her arms were around his neck in a second, her sudden hug making him lose his balance for a second, taking a step back, but he quickly found his ground again and immediately hugged her back.

The little boy joined in on the hug, and Castle wondered if the little boy even understood what was going on, because _he_ certainly didn't. For several minutes they just stood their, hugging, and she was definitely his pumpkin. She smelled just like she'd done yesterday when he hugged her and she was still only a young adult. _What the hell happened?_

"What's going on Alexis? How did you get so grown-up?" he questioned and she pulled away with tears in her eyes.

Her little boy looked up at his mom and she bent down to pick him up. He must've been around five years old.

"I was always the grownup remember?" Alexis was teasing but he could see it was some sort of copying mechanism. Sighing she took a hold of his arm and led him inside the loft. He could immediately tell some things had changed, this wasn't his loft anymore, it was hers. "You disappeared from the precinct twenty years ago. Kate told us you were running after one of the guys from the investigation with a machine of some sort to give it back to him and just never returned. Oh god, dad... she looked everywhere for you." She sighed, her blue eyes so sad he wished he could take the pain away. "She never gave up, not even after they declared you dead. But she couldn't keep destroying her life. I... I talked her into letting you go, said I needed her when I got pregnant the first time. Since I didn't have you, and we all know how my mother is, I told her I wanted her to help me, be the stepmom she was about to be, be the gram to my kid she was supposed to be."

Castle got tears in his eyes. _He hadn't been there for his pumpkin_. But at the same time he couldn't be more proud for the two of them keeping in contact. Wait...

"First time?" he questioned and gulped. He'd missed two grandkids?

"Yeah, this is Alexander Richard Castle," she smiled and bounced her knees as she looked at the little boy.

"Hi," the boy, Alexander, waved.

"And my husband is out with Jo Emma Castle."

Castle was taken back. She'd named her kids after... them?

"Jo as in Johanna?"

"Yeah, and Alexander as in you." She set down the little boy and told him to go play. As soon as he was out of earshot she looked back at her father. "Jo wasn't planned, and my boyfriend at the time didn't want kids, and after all the help Kate gave me I couldn't not do something for her, as a thanks. And I really like the name," she shrugged her shoulders with a smile.

 _Kate_.

"Where is she? I thought she'd live here even if I..." he couldn't dare to say the words, couldn't believe he had actually left her.

"She couldn't," Alexis said, her smile fading quick, her blue eyes filled with so much pain. "She said it reminded her too much of what she'd lost. Again. She almost cut off contact with me and gram, but we wouldn't let her."

Castle was suddenly eager to get away from there too, if not to go back then at least to find his fiancé. He had to see her. _God knew he had to see her_.

"She's still in her old apartment. You can find her there," Alexis said and wrapped her arms around him. "Go find her."

He didn't have to be told that twice. He squeezed his daughter in one last hug before saying goodbye to his daughter and his... grandson, and hurried out the loft. He didn't have enough chill in his bones to take a cab and he knew it really wasn't that far and so he started walking, or maybe it could be considered jogging, towards her apartment. He needed to see her. He needed to tell her he didn't mean to leave. And he needed her to help him get back to her. Once he was at her door and he'd lift his fist to knock he suddenly hesitated. Alexis hadn't mentioned her moving on, but what if she had? His daughter had said she never stopped looking, that it had been her who made her take a break. What if she met someone after that? What if she had a kid of her own? Twenty years. A lot could happen in twenty years. He ran his fingers through his hair. He had no idea how he landed here, how he got here, _was it all a dream?_ But then again, how could a dream feel so real? How could he _know_ how his daughter would look like in twenty years? Nothing made sense. Absolute no sense! Sure, he'd dreamt and said he believed in time travel but that didn't mean he _actually believed in them!_ Hell, what was he doing? He took a deep breath and knocked on the door he had stood outside just a few days ago, which appeared to be years ago... decades ago. When the door opened he stood eye to eye with her. Her hazel eyes, so deepened with a sadness he'd only previously witnessed when she'd talked about her mother, now wide opened with an additional shock he'd seen in his daughter's eyes as well. The woman in front of him was older, yes, but there was no doubt she was the woman he loved. The woman he'd been about to marry to spend the rest of his life with. And, _god_ , she was still so damn beautiful.

"C-Ca... Castle?" her lip was quivering and her eyes were filled with tears in a heartbeat. He felt his heart wreck at the sight. The tears in her eyes slowly breaking out of her eyes, sliding down her cheek as she started shaking her head. "It's not possible... you're not here... you're gone," her voice was broken. As broken as her heart appeared to be.

"I'm here," his voice broke too. He'd never seen her eyes with this kind of emotion, never seen her this torn apart. Not even when she'd told him about her mother. "I'm here."

She shook her head violently, was beginning to close the door on him but he was quick to stomp his foot between the door and the frame. "You can't..." She drew in a quick breath, a sob he recognized, and he felt her try to close the door was weak. It hadn't even hurt! And the Kate Beckett he knew had always been able to make his foot hurt when he came between her and closing the door, no matter her state of mind. _Had she stopped working out?_ _Or was it the sight of him that weakened her?_ Gently, he pushed the door opened enough for him to sneak past and once he was inside, the door closed behind him, he could see her knees weaken under her. He was quick to scoop her up, holding her as she started sobbing more and more until she was crying, letting go of her control. He'd done this. He'd caused her this pain. And his heart physically hurt for it. He felt his own tears start streaming down his cheeks. Bending his knees he put one of his arms around her knees and scooped her up bridal style, carrying her to the couch where he sat down with her in his lap. He couldn't get himself to let go, he would never let go again.

Kate nuzzled her nose into the crook of his neck, smelling his cologne. The cologne she'd thrown out all those years ago because it smelled too much of him, was too much of a reminder of everything she lost. And she hadn't even figured out _how_ she'd lost it all. She'd never been one to give herself away to someone like she had with him, never been one to cling. But now she was. She let her hands grab onto his shirt, let her nose be buried in his neck, as she cried tears she thought she'd run out of years ago, decades ago.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She felt the vibrations from his throat as his voice sounded in the silence, his voice as broken as hers had been. His hands clutched onto her, pulling her body closer to his. It kind of hurt, how hard he was pulling her to his body, but she didn't care. She wanted to be this close to him. She'd wished over and over to be this close to him again, to feel him so close. _She was losing her mind_. He couldn't be here. Especially not considering he looked exactly like he did when he disappeared twenty years ago. He had the exact same clothes too. She still woke up to the nightmare of seeing him chasing after the Doyle guy with that stupid little thing in his hand. Still woke with the empty feeling of thinking it took him too long, and setting off to find him only to not find a simple trace of where he'd gone. She'd been frustrated because he had left his phone on her desk and therefore couldn't answer her if she called. At first she'd thought he'd gone to the garage, waiting for her by the car, but he wasn't. And then she'd started thinking maybe, _maybe_ , he'd gone to the loft by subway, a way to play a prank on her. But he'd not been there either. She'd called Espo and Ryan then, and they'd started a search party, but he was nowhere to be found. Freaking out she'd refused going to bed for forty-eight hours, but nothing helped. She'd taken personal days off to search for him when 1PP had told Captain Gates to shut down the search, but when her personal days where up and she still hadn't found him she'd resigned without a second heartbeat. She _needed_ to find him. Everyone had told her to stop, stop digging that rabbit hole. Her father had tried talking her out of it, said she shouldn't let this case do to her what her mother's had. But she couldn't, _she couldn't_. He was her one and done, he was supposed to stay with her _always_. It wasn't until a couple years later, when Alexis had come banging on her door with the news of her pregnancy, that she'd been forced to scratch herself up from the hole she'd dug.

"I'm so sorry."

His voice broke through again and she realized her crying had stopped, the every now-and-then sobs the only remnants of her cries. His lips kissed her hair, the hair she'd chopped off again.

"How?" she whispered, with a quiver of her lip. "How are you here? Are you a... a ghost?"

He couldn't help but chuckle at that, a sad chuckle but still a chuckle. "Don't tell me you finally believe."

She would smile at that, the _oh so normal_ joke of his, but it hurt too much. Too much of a remainder of what she lost, and she let her tears run down her cheeks in silent cries. And he felt them, because they landed on his neck, his shoulder, wetting his shirt, but he didn't care about that. He had her in his arms, and that was all that mattered.

"Are you?" she whispered.

"No," he shook his head. "I think I... I think I travelled in time." He was hesitant to share his theory, but it was the only thing that made even the slightest sense.

She wrinkled her forehead in confusion. Time travel? _Oh_. That _had_ been the case they'd been working on. "'See you in twenty years.' It's been twenty years," she raised her head in order to look at him. "And you look exactly the same." _That fucking machine!_

"I was in the precinct, jogging to give the machine to Doyle only a couple hours ago. I thought you were playing another prank on me, having a blonde pretending to have your desk, and so I went to the loft. I found Alexis, but not _my_ Alexis, she's all grown-up." He looked into her hazels, his voice barely held as he recalled the past hours he'd been in this world, and he saw the same conclusion in her eyes.

"Yeah, she grew up good," she said with a pride in her eyes he thought he'd see first when they got a kid of their own. Not twenty years later and with only his child as close to hers as it could come.

"I need to get back," he said and she swallowed hard. She didn't want him to leave. Not again. Not now. "I need to get back to you, I can't leave you like this."

Her lip was quivering again, though she nodded. "Not tonight, please stay for tonight." Her voice was not much more than a whisper, a breath, but he heard her loud and clear. It was his time to nod. No way he was leaving her like this, besides, he needed her help to get back to her. He raised from the couch, carrying her bridal style and set his pace to the bedroom. He laid her down before crawling down with her, his arms around her as he spooned her. She hugged his arms as she closed her eyes and let go of a sigh. She had lost her home twenty years ago, but now he was back, and she was finally feeling at home again. Because he was there. He was her home.

* * *

The next morning Kate woke up figuring she hadn't dreamt that well in many years, hadn't dreamt dreams instead of nightmares for two decades, but when she was moving to get up she felt a restraint around her she hadn't for long. _Oh god no, please don't be a random guy_. _Not again_. She'd sometimes woken with strange men in bed, having gone out for a drink to forget her pain only to end up fucking someone who was nowhere close to the man she wanted. The only man she'd ever want but never could, not anymore. She tried to cover a sob, whoever was in her bed didn't need to know how much she already regretted it. But when she drew in a breath again it wasn't just any scent that got caught in her nose. _It was his!_

"Morning," his voice rumbled as she turned in bed to see him.

"It wasn't a dream," she whispered and started sobbing as she nestled into his embrace. His _oh so warm_ embrace that would always be her home.

"No, I will always come back to you, _always_ ," he mumbled into her hair as he kissed her head. _Speaking of coming back_. "I need your help getting back, make sure I never leave in the first place."

She sighed out, trying to keep calm he figured, and he held her a little tighter. "I know." But she didn't want to let him go. _She just got him back_. He was right though, he needed to get back. If he got back she'd never have to lose him in the first place.

Castle let her be for another few minutes, had a feeling she needed to be close to him. After all she'd been without him for twenty years, he'd need to get back to her, _yes_ , but he had been with her just yesterday, he could let her have him for a few more minutes. He just prayed his Beckett in his time wouldn't notice him being gone, hoped he would get back to her at the same time and place he disappeared from.

"Thanks," she whispered and he looked down at her.

Her hazel eyes looked deeply into his blues. "For what?"

"For coming back, giving me a reason as to why."

He nodded, "Always."

She smiled and for the first time, for what he thought to be years, the smile reached her eyes. Together they raised from the bed and Castle immediately went to start on the black daily beverage. There had never been a day they hadn't started with coffee. As they sipped on their cups he picked up the machine from within his pocket. _It had all started with this._

Kate moaned when the coffee reached her taste buds. "You know, I haven't had coffee since a while after you disappeared." Castle stopped looking at the device and gave her a horrified look. She just shrugged her shoulders, "I couldn't deal, Castle. I was a lot worse than when my mom died." He could see it wasn't easy for her to tell him that, her eyes filled with a sorrow so deep he couldn't wait to get back to her and fix this.

"Is Doyle around? Did you keep track of him?" he asked and she bit her lip.

"Doyle was found dead not far after you disappeared. Made me wonder but I couldn't figure it all out."

"Maybe he was killed because I was sent here. I wonder who he worked for," he mumbled.

Castle turned on the device, looking for buttons and trying to figure out what made the lamps turn on.

"Maybe," she agreed and held out her hand for the machine. He didn't hesitate before giving it to her, maybe she'd have better luck.

While she looked it over he thought back to the redheaded woman at his loft, his daughter now being a grownup. Her kids. "Thanks for taking care of Alexis, I heard about Jo and how you helped the two of them."

"Yeah, well, I couldn't leave her alone, especially not since she was stubborn enough to involve me," Kate said. "I cried when she told me she was naming her Jo. Cried even more when she told me she was naming her boy after you."

"Did you ever..." he started but had to swallow before he could continue, "find someone new? Dated?" He would never blame her if she did, he never wanted her to be alone, but of course it would hurt a little.

She glanced up to meet his eyes for only a few seconds. "I tried. No one ever could compete with you though. I went back to old habits, never let them close enough and they didn't try hard to get past my wall."

"Ah," he nodded and felt his heart shudder for the hundredth time in less than twenty-four hours.

All of a sudden Kate's eyes went wide, and Castle immediately asked her what it was. She turned the device and pointed to a small mark at the corner of it, _how had he missed that?_ "I know this company. Come on," she said, throwing back her head to drink the last of her coffee and once he'd done the same she took his hand.

* * *

Castle heard Kate curse when she remembered she didn't have a badge she could flash the receptionist and get a quicker appointment with the head of the company. He wondered if she'd ever regretted her decision before he came back into her life, but decided not to ask. He didn't want to know all of the things he destroyed by accidentally leaving her. He'd destroyed enough. He didn't want to remind her of every detail on that list. They had been there for hours and Castle wondered if the head of the company would even see them before he'd decide to go home. It would _so piss him off_ if they'd had to come back the next day. He wanted back _now_.

"Mr. Olsen can see you now," the receptionist suddenly said and the two raised within a second to follow the assistant standing in the door waiting for them.

The assistant led them to an elevator and pushed the top level. Castle had always felt elevator music was kind of calming but right now he couldn't be more impatient. He wanted back, he wanted to fix everything, he wanted to hold his Beckett again. Of course he still loved this Beckett but, he wanted to grow old _with_ her, not stay young when she grew old without him. He wanted to take time and fall in love with every little wrinkle on her skin as they appeared. Wanted to kiss those lips every day, not miss the chance for twenty years.

"How can I help you Ms. Beckett?" the old man behind the desk asked as they walked into the office.

 _Weird,_ Castle thought. He'd always heard her referred to detective Beckett, and if anyone had ever tried with Ms. she'd immediately shut them off with a stern voice telling them it was _detective_ and _not_ _Ms_.

"This yours?" Kate approached the desk and held out the machine, immediately having the old man widening his eyes.

"Where'd you find this?" he questioned and Castle raised his hand.

"A man named Doyle forgot it twenty years ago," he said and the man narrowed his eyes on him.

"So, you're the one who stole it," Mr. Olsen said and Castle shook his head.

"I was about to give it back to him when I suddenly was here. I skipped twenty years and I want back," Castle said with an irritated tone. He was done playing games, he hadn't been gone long no, but it was enough.

Mr. Olsen's hand came in contact with his face, a frustrated growl escaping his throat. "So, that's where it went," he grumbled before he looked up again. "I suppose you're the missing writer then, I didn't think Doyle was telling the truth."

"Neither did I when he said he was from the future, until Castle showed up at my door yesterday, not a day older than he was when he disappeared," Beckett said and when Castle looked at her he could see she was pissed.

He wasn't surprised to see she was angry with the old man, _hell, he was angry_ , but it was a little reassuring too. She didn't blame _him_. She didn't believe he would just leave her the way he apparently had. She trusted him the way he trusted her. And that was more than he could ever ask for.

"What day did you disappear?" Mr. Olsen asked and before Castle could answer, Beckett did for him.

"21st October 2013." Looking at her he saw her lips where a thin line, eyes glassy, and he hated how her whole life had turned upside down in the glimpse of a few seconds. He could see she refused to look at him, to meet his eyes, and so he reached out and took her hand, hugging it tightly.

Mr. Olsen nodded and wrote something on his computer. He held out his hand towards the device and Kate didn't hesitate to give it to him. He looked it over and did something more, Castle had no idea how but somehow the man revealed a button he hadn't found earlier. "At 8pm tonight, be at the same place where you disappeared and push this button. Make sure no one is around you though, otherwise they might come with. Once the clock strikes 8:05pm the device will not work anymore." The man instructed as he gave back the device to Castle.

"Thanks," he muttered and started to turn around with Kate right on his heel.

"Oh, and Mr. Castle, Ms. Beckett," the old man stopped them and when they looked at him he had a serious look on his face. "You never saw of this. You won't tell anyone about this. No one."

 _Sure, but Ms. Beckett includes my Beckett too_. "Wouldn't dream of it, who'd believe me anyway," Castle shrugged his shoulders and apparently Mr. Olsen was satisfied with that because he just waved a dismissive hand at them.

Castle and Beckett walked out of the building with hurried steps, but once they were out he could sense Beckett's hesitance. When he looked at her he could see she was deep in thought. He tugged at her hand once, and when she didn't look up at him he tugged a little more. Once her eyes met his he voiced his question, "What's wrong?"

She almost looked embarrassed, and he felt warmth spread through his body. _No matter how old they grew he would always be able to make her blush_. And that thought made him so incredibly happy. "I can't help but wish you could stay," she whispered and he felt his heart sink.

"Oh," he let out. Thought for a minute and then opened his mouth again. "I wish I never picked up this damn device. But Kate," he stopped them, turned towards her, "I need to get back. If I don't..."

"I know. Fuck, Castle, I know." She said and he looked at her surprised by her language. "Doesn't make it hurt any less."

Her eyes were filled with tears now and he cupped her cheek in order to catch the water with his thumb. He watched as her eyes flickered down to his lips and he didn't hesitate one second, his lips where on hers in a second.

His taste in her mouth had her knees go as weak as it had twenty years ago and _fuck_ she'd missed him so much. But, this wasn't right. She wasn't his Beckett, and he wasn't her Castle. She pulled away gently, put her arms around him to hug him tight.

Castle was slightly surprised by her movement but didn't hesitate to hug her back. They stood like that for a while, he felt Kate's arm shift a little behind him and without any direct warning she squeezed him a little tighter, putting her mouth right beside his ear.

"Come back to me," she whispered before she kissed his cheek and pulled away with sad eyes but smiling lips.

"I love you," he said and she let a tear slip down.

Wiping it away she nodded, started going backwards. "I love you too," she said before turning away and setting pace towards her apartment. The apartment where she'd lived for twenty years without him. The apartment she'd live in for the rest of her life, alone. Because even if he came back to her, she doubted her own time line would change. She had lost him. But at least one version of her would have him. And she could live with that.

* * *

Castle paced the corridor where he'd been transported from his own time, time travelled to this world, and continued to check his clock every now and then. He was trying to be patient, he really was, but the time wasn't moving fast enough. He needed to get back to Beckett, _his Kate_. And the clock had barely struck 8pm before he pushed the button and waited for something to happen. Anything. Nothing happened. He pushed the button again. And again. And again. He felt nothing different. Nothing happened. And then the clock struck 8:05pm.

" _Piece of crap!_ "he yelled out, throwing the device as hard as he could into the wall.

He heard shuffling and leant against the wall closest to him, tears running down his cheeks as he cried out his frustration. He was stuck in the future and Kate would live for twenty years wondering where the hell he'd gone. He felt his heart break again. How could he cause the people he love so much pain? How could this happen? He put his hands over his face and sobbed. _It's not possible... you're not here... you're gone._

"Castle? What the hell?!"

His head snapped up, seeing Beckett, _his Kate_ , stand in the door opening with a shocked expression on her face, hands out in question. Her face changed in the matter of a millisecond when she saw his tears and before he could really comprehend he was back, she was down on her knees right in front of him, asking what was wrong. He didn't hesitate before he pulled her down in his lap, cradling her in a tight hug as he cried, this time from happiness. _He was back_.

"Rick? Talk to me," she demanded and pulled away enough to look into his blues.

"I love you, Kate, always." He promised and she wrinkled her eyebrows, that cute expression she had every time she was confused. "I'll always come back to you, no matter what," he swore and without any warning her fingers searched his head, rummaging through his hair.

He couldn't help but close his eyes, enjoying the feel of her fingers in his hair, knowing it was _her_.

"Did you hit your head?" she asked and he chuckled while shaking his head no. "Are you okay?"

"Now I am," he said and opened his eyes to look at her again. "I'll tell you everything later, promise."

She nodded and started to raise from his lap, he let her because once she was up she held out a hand to him and he took it. Once he was up on his feet, in front of her, he cupped her cheek and pulled her close enough for his lips to claim hers. He put all the love he could into the kiss and he was satisfied to hear the moan slipping out of her mouth. He felt her hands land on his back, and he deepened the kiss, his tongue dancing with hers. He could still feel her shock, the question of what the hell had happened, but he didn't care about that right at that second. He was just so damn glad he was home. She was his home.

"Didn't I tell you two to act professionally or I would kick Mr. Castle out of here?" Gates' voice had them both immediately pulling away and though Castle could see the blush on his fiancé's cheeks he couldn't stop grinning. He was back.

* * *

 _THE END_

 _A/N: I know the time traveling part is perhaps not really believable (probably required a whole story for it) but I didn't want to make it into a full fic so here it is. Still hope you enjoyed it and thank you for reading! Until next time, xxx_


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